Recent content by Craigs Cruzer

Another option could be adding weights on the undercarriage so that the car drags slightly.This would only work if they are easy on the rules with ground clearance. Cars that don’t reach the finish tend to be ones that drag in this way.

I would also recommend a 4 lane of that track. It is the most common.

If you are running on 3 wheels, the car wants to pull that elevated wheel down. There tends to be a consensus that rear weight distribution should be evened out between the rear wheels as best as possible. In order to balance the car between the rear wheels, weight has to be shifted to the side...

Boy Scout Troop set up a rule that kids have 1 hour to build their car before it it raced - with box kits handed out on the spot. For some reason, they couldn’t get enough scouts interested to actually hold the race.

That is correct. I misread E.

D. Here is Bulldog's video on making fenders. Once you look at it step by step, I found it quite easy (especially the second time through) and satisfying. Making the fenders was actually the most enjoyable part of our build.

My guess is I have some slop with the vise and the drill bit. The thing that I’ve learned is to not be afraid to try new tools and techniques, but take caution to attempting new methods when time is in short order. It is better to learn these skills in your spare time, rather than when you’re...

For me, it's DD4H sugar pine along with his #43 bit and manually drilling with elbow grease. One attempt results in toe in and the next one would be toe out. Watched DD4H video showing to use hand power drill with slight force to front of car and had similar results. Probably took 10+ attempts...

Flockshot, I've been having similar problems trying to get a consistent drill using the Silver Bullet Extreme. Like, you, it's probably me as I've tried different #43 drill bits. I'm curious what your jig looks like that you built for it and the process you used to make it.

Bent front axle

We’ve built our first ladder car this year and began weighing the car with 3 individual scales. The car is 8 grams lighter on the DRW than the NDRW. I could more evenly distribute the weight by moving a cube forward, but would sacrifice some rear weight in doing so. Now, this is the most...

Pledge is applied as the last step on the axles, while Red Rocket is the final step for the wheels. To burnish the axles, Hurricrane adds graphite when Red Rocket is applied to the wheels on a graphite running car.

Here’s a related thread on the same question. http://www.pinewoodderbyonline.com/threads/for-graphite-cars-do-you-still-have-to-burnish-when-using-red-rocket.5972/#post-74663

The experienced racers will build cars on a regular basis and more often than not, seem to be ladder cars. The frame/foundation of these cars is completely based on the wheel base as a starting point with the rest of the car built around it (fenders, weight distribution, etc.). If the wheel base...

Here's an old post from 2012 with some instructions off another site: http://www.derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=63990#p63990